Russian ruble announced Crimea’s official currency

Ukrainian hryvnia will have the same status until 2016, according to local parliament’s resolution

SIMFEROPOL, March 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Two official currencies, Russian ruble and Ukrainian hryvnia, will be accepted in Crimea until January 1, 2016, according to a resolution adopted on Monday by the Crimean parliament.

“The official currency unit of the Republic of Crimea is the Russian ruble, and until January 1, 2016, the Ukrainian hryvnia would be also the official currency,” the parliament’s official website says.

“Regulations of the budget and tax code of Ukraine would be in force on the territory of the Republic of Crimea until regulations in the field of budget and taxation legislation are adopted,” says the resolution adopted at the extraordinary session of Crimean parliament together with the proclamation of the republic’s independence.

The parliament has also approved the temporary statute on the Bank of Crimea. “The organization of money circulation and withdrawing them from circulation on the territory of the Republic of Crimea would be made exclusively by the Bank of Crimea,” the resolution reads. “The Bank of Crimea without any fees performs transactions with budget funds of the Republic of Crimea, as well as transactions regarding public debt management of the Republic of Crimea.”

The resolution also says that “profit making is not the objective of the activity of the Bank of Crimea”. The main objectives of the Bank of Crimea are “protection and providing of stability of currency circulation, development and strengthening of the banking system, providing effective and faultless operation of the payment system”.